Against the Argument Against Bernie

The “He won’t get anything done” trap seems to be tightening its grip, even amongst potential supporters.

Here’s the thing. The argument for Bernie isn’t about pragmatism. Rather, it’s about cleaning up the moral morass that is post-Reagan/Milton Friedman America.

In short, it’s about economic justice. Bernie would be our best shot at changing the terms of the debate around how wealth is accumulated, viewed and shared (or not) in this country. In fact, electing a socialist would be something akin to a (in my opinion, much overdue) paradigm shift. For the last 30 years, policy and debate have been enslaved to the doctrine of unfettered capitalism — the ethos that maximizing corporate profits and GDP is our highest aim, costs be damned. We’ve placed money at the absolute center of our society. And we’ve paid the price — with an incredible stratification of wealth; with a criminal justice system that privileges profits over liberty; with a healthcare system that seeks to gouge instead of heal; and with the passing of Citizen’s United, which stems from a misguided philosophy elevating money to the level of political free speech. I agree that Bernie would have a hard time getting much of what he proposes done. But getting him in office would do much to change the terms of a debate that’s become increasingly distorted and has already left countless communities and millions of families in its wake.